Tuesday, June 4, 2013

MTV to host biggest online-only music festival

Concertgoers won't have to leave their homes to enjoy the "Live Music Day Festival," the biggest online-only event of its kind, music networks MTV, VH1 and CMT said on Tuesday.

The 24-hour virtual concert is set to kick off at 7 p.m. EDT on June 19 and will feature performances by more than 50 bands and artists spanning rock, indie, pop, R&B and folk. Acts include Hanson, Atlas Genius, Labrinth, Langhorne Slim and Kate Nash.

The performances, accompanied by the fan-picked O Music Awards, will be streamed live from Viacom's offices in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. The Roots drummer Questlove will provide beats during the festival in a 24-hour "drum-a-thon."

Viewers will be able to watch the entire show via computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. They also have the option of selecting only the acts and awards they want to see.

"We've created the first-of-its-kind music festival that's both connecting artists and fans and allowing them to participate in the awards and festival in new ways," Dermot McCormack, head of connected content for Viacom Music, said in a statement.

Categories in the third annual O Music Awards include Best Web-Born Artist, Fan Army FTW (For The Win) and Must-Follow Artist on Twitter. R&B singer Frank Ocean and rocker Beck lead the awards with two nominations each.

At the first O Music awards in Las Vegas in 2011, rapper Chiddy of rap duo Chiddy Bang set a Guinness World Record for the "longest freestyle rap" and "longest marathon rap" after performing for more than nine consecutive hours.